Xu Zhongqiang (hereinafter referred to as Xu): On many occasions, you have repeatedly emphasized that you are an editor, not a writer. Why is it so important to be an editor?

Mu Tao (hereinafter referred to as Mu): Let me tell you about my experience. I started as an editor in the mid-to-late 80s of the 20th century, and I edited literary criticism at Wen Lunbao and novels at Rehe and The Great Wall. At that time, the literary atmosphere was strong and hot, and there was respect for editors, and it was not easy to become an editor. At that time, there were a group of veteran editors with a very high level, who were "re-engaged in their old business" for the rest of their lives after the catastrophe, and there were them in various provinces. Now the first-class writers in China, who are over 50 years old, have been guided and inspired by those people. In 1993, I was transferred from Hebei to Meiwen, and there is also such a person, named Wang Daping, who is the deputy editor-in-chief. The editor-in-chief is Jia Pingwa, and he is the banner. Editing a magazine is a comprehensive work, a store is open to welcome the market, the manager is very important, and the backstage operation is equally important. In the compilation of "Meiwen", Wang Daping is the backbone. He has a good understanding of the "big prose" writing proposition of Pingwa's editor-in-chief, has good desk skills, and has a solid academic foundation. With keen eyesight and broad vision, the editorial style of "Meiwen" today is still the foundation laid by his layout back then. It's a pity that the old gentleman was still an associate editor when he retired. Mr. Ohira, who is 75 years old this year, has been retired for many years, but he has always been respected by his colleagues at Meibun, including the editor-in-chief of Heiwa. A person does one or several jobs in his life, but if he does technical work, it is best to grow old together, and his technical work can be affirmed by his peers, and if he can still be respected, he has no regrets in this life.

Xu: Han Han used to not value his status as a "writer", preferring to be called a "racing driver", what do you think of the "racing driver" Han Han, the director Han Han and the "writer" Han Han?

Mu: The editor-in-chief of Pingwa is known as a writer, and in addition to writing, he also paints and writes calligraphy. If you praise him for his good calligraphy, he will be so happy, and if you say that he is not good at drawing, he will laugh at it. If you want to say that his literary works are not good to try, he won't say anything on his lips, he will be awkward in his heart, and most of his readers will not spare you. Literary writing is the foundation of Jia Pingwa's life. Editor-in-chief Pingwa and Han Han are two generations of writers, and their lifestyles are very different. Han Han's identity as a director and racing driver has attracted attention and is a derivative of his writing. I respect Han Han's writing, he has his literary wisdom, and he has the mental health of people his age. I'm an editor, and I like writers with distinctive styles, but unfortunately I haven't edited and published Han Han's works. Han Han also needed to enrich his literary wisdom with more distinct writing.

Xu: You call yourself a "professional editor", but you have won many literary awards, is this "unintentionally inserting willows into the willows", or is "inserting willows" literature is the basis of the professional ability of "professional editors"?

MM: I've won a lot of editorial awards. In 1998, he won the Shaanxi Provincial Literary Editing Award, and in 2003, he won the "Guo Moruo Prose Essay Award and Outstanding Editor Award" issued by the Chinese Writers Association. The book "The Previous Atmosphere", which won the Lu Xun Literature Award, is, to put it bluntly, a reading notebook. Why do I want to read some history, in order to edit "Meiwen". In 1998, I presided over the editorial work of Meiwen, and to be the deputy editor-in-chief was to translate the editor-in-chief's specific ideas into editorial content. The "big prose theory" advocated by the editor-in-chief of Pingwa directly corresponds to the style of the Han Dynasty. I first read some pre-Qin books, and then I started to read some books related to the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, focusing on historical books, where the style of the Han Dynasty is hidden. Later, with the title of "Manuscript Notes", the thoughts and opinions on reading were published in the "American Text". Some newspapers and periodicals outside the province value this style of writing, and Shanghai's "Wenhui Reading Weekly" and Beijing's "October" magazine also have columns. "The Previous Atmosphere" is based on these three columns, but it is not unintentional, I wrote these articles with great care and effort. As for "The Previous Atmosphere" winning the Lu Award, it was an unexpected joy. There is a folk proverb in my hometown of Hebei, called "hugging the grass and hitting a rabbit", which means that people go to mow the grass, and they also harvest a rabbit in the grass, which is a happy thing.

Xu: You have a collection of essays called "Reassuring Collection", how do you understand "rest assured", and how can you be at ease in life?

MM: It was a book that came out in 2000 to evaluate job titles. If you don't publish a book, you can't get a senior title. Editors have to write a book to be judged. To position a tailor, you have to let him weave a piece of cloth, which is not quite right. I have published several books, and the time of publication basically coincides with the time when I evaluated the intermediate, deputy high, and senior titles, and I also translated a book called "Discredited: The Failure of the United States in Vietnam and Cambodia", because the evaluation of professional titles also has to pass the test in foreign languages.

The book is called "Reassuring Collection", but it is actually not reassuring. We are often taught to "aim high", "have the world in mind" and "let go of our hearts", and we do not carry out "rest assured" education, and talk about "leapfrog development" in everything. Elementary school students are asking to be "successors of the revolutionary cause", and their hearts are too heavy, and they should at least be placed in middle school. Nowadays, parents are not at ease with their children, wives are not at ease with their husbands, leaders are not at ease with their subordinates, and neighbors are not at ease. In history, in some times in the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, there was a historical commentary that "the road is not left behind, and the night is not closed", which is really a great state of social peace of mind. Today, not only is not "the road not left behind", but also on the road to grab it, pay attention to the method called "touch porcelain". Do you dare to "stay open at night"? The anti-theft door is becoming more and more advanced, which shows the "unease" of the society. Many people are blaming these phenomena, but they are negligent in asking about one question and negligent in asking about themselves. Every day you talk about going to the next level, or going up to the next level, have you reassured others?

Xu: To create prose, the creator needs to open up the inner emotional world, and the reader can get the feeling of beauty from it, and be inspired and edified, baptized and sublimated in a subtle way. From this point of view, can prose also be called "chicken soup for the soul"?

MM: Chicken soup is for the body, and chicken soup for the soul is for the mind. Articles like "Chicken Soup for the Soul" can do what you say enlightening and edifying, but they can't do baptism and sublimation. I'll give you an example, there are a lot of essays about rural love, old houses, old trees, country roads, cooking smoke, and wheat fragrance, all of which nourish the mind. However, in the rural areas today, don't you see the lonely and helpless left-behind elderly people and the helpless left-behind children? The editor-in-chief of Pingwa advocates large prose writing, which basically points to the fact that writers must have a conscience and conscience. In literary writing, emotions should be subdued, and the anxious level of social thought should be recognized.

Xu: The title of your work that won the Lu Xun Literature Award is "The Previous Atmosphere", what are the "previous atmospheres"? What are the "previous atmospheres" that are missing today? Or what are the "previous atmospheres" that need to be restored or rebuilt urgently?

MM: Today, China's economy is the second largest in the world, and this is undoubtedly a huge achievement since the reform and opening up. But at the same time, there is a question that needs to be asked: How much does the behavior of the Chinese, or the image of the Chinese, rank in the world? In fact, we often lose our trust in some details, lack of rules, lack of integrity, and these are precisely the advantages of China's ancestors. In the past, we called it the "State of Etiquette", and etiquette is the rule, but today's understanding of "etiquette" is out of shape. In addition, China's economy is the second largest in the world, but the ranking is based on Western criteria. At present, many of our industries have to have their own standards, economic, medical, educational, environmental protection, as well as many indicators of industry and agriculture. Now that the country is strong, it can speak internationally, but it does not have much right to speak. The country is so big that it must be at its roots, and it must establish its own standards. The Qin Dynasty was not long, only a dozen years, but the Qin State was long, and the cultural heritage of Qin was established in many fields. The Han Dynasty established more. These standards were respected and followed by the world at that time. Regarding the Qin Dynasty, there is one point that should be taken seriously. The Qin Dynasty highlighted the "politics of the First Army", and the lesson that Qin taught us was to destroy the cultural ecology. Shaanxi has a thick history, and the word "big" in the land of Sanqin is not because there are many emperors, but because it has set a series of standards for traditional China. For example, Confucius also talked about "self-denial and revenge", and this ritual is the Zhou ceremony. For example, the benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom in the daily behavior of the Chinese were formed in the Han Dynasty. For another example, in the Qing Dynasty, China had two forms of state, the "sub-feudal state" system of the Zhou Dynasty and the "imperial system" of the Qin Dynasty, both of which were contributed by the rich soil of Shaanxi. Including our current state system, it was also created in Yan'an. The value contained in this is up to our Shaanxi writers to study, excavate, and present.

The book "The Former Atmosphere" is relatively superficial, just a notebook to read history. I am not at a low level and do not have the ability to think about big issues, but I am here to learn from you.